Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 02 - Bogey's Ace in the Hole (3 page)

Chapter Three

“I’m sure you did a thorough check,” I said.  “I think
the important thing would be to talk to the neighbor as soon as possible.  And I don’t think you three should go with me.  We might overwhelm her and she could forget an important detail if she thinks we’re ganging up on her.”  It made sense to me, plus I didn’t want the ladies to go with me.

“If you think so,” May said.

“Are you sure?” Lila asked.

“
Yes.  Can you give me a ride to our house so I can pick up my car?  Chris and I rode to work together.”

“I have a better idea,” Jasmine said.  “We’ll give you a ride to Addie’s house and wait in the car for you.”  Oh, this woman was sharp.  One way or the other they planned on accompanying me.

I glanced at Chris, looking for an out, and he pulled on his ear lobe before breaking out in a big grin.  He thought it was funny.  Since my back was now to the women, I rolled my eyes at him and mouthed the word
thanks
.  He very subtly nodded his head at me.

I glanced down at my long green dress.  It was satiny and floor-length with a low back and flowing sleeves, not exactly what I wanted to wear to interview someone.  But it was getting late and there wasn’t enough time to run home and change.  I grabbed a
sweater off the coat rack in my office.

“Let’s get this show on the road,
ladies.  Time’s a wastin’.”

They gathered their purses and sweaters and led the way through the restaurant.  Chris and I followed.

“Be sure to ask the neighbor if she thinks there might be any way Addie left with the goon this morning,” Chris said.  “Oh, and take a look inside her car.  Maybe there’s something in it.”

“Yeah, yeah.  I know all the right questions to ask. 
And I already planned on looking at the car.  Trust me, Bogey Man.”

“Oh, I do,
sugar.  I really do.”  He gave me his best Bogey grin and gently slapped my…  Well, that’s between me and Chris.

“You’ll take the dogs home and
check on Mikey, right?” I asked.

“
Constance is at our house with Ace tonight, so we know he’s okay, and I wouldn’t forget the dogs, would I?”

Chris had given Mikey the nickname of Ace because, well, Mikey liked it.  It was part of the forties jargon that Chris used so often.

“Of course not.  Sometimes it just makes m
e feel better if I’ve said it.  Besides, I know Mikey is fine when he’s with Constance.”  Constance is my friend and babysitter.  She’s been a lifesaver for us because she genuinely cares about our son, and Mikey stays with her while we’re at the restaurant.  Sometimes he stays at her house, and sometimes she comes to our home.

I caught up to the Church Ladies who were waiting for me by the front entrance.

“I sure like the way your husband talks,” Lila said.

“Me, too,” May added.

Jasmine smiled in agreement.

“He’s quite the character,” I said.  “He’s a good man, and that’s what really counts with me.
And I have to admit that he sure does keep life interesting.”

We reached Jasmine’s car, a light green 1951 Chevrolet, and waited while she unlocked it.

“Chris has an older car, too, similar to this one,” I said.  “It’s a light green forties vintage Chevy.  When the Bogey Man drives down the street wearing his fedora, he draws quite a few interested stares.”

“I’ll bet he does,” May said.  “I’d bet for just a split second people forget the actor is gone and
that Chris takes them back in time.”

“I’ll bet you’re right,” Lila said.

“Now, ladies, that’s enough betting for one evening,” Jasmine said.

“O
h, it’s only a figure of speech.  Lighten up, Jaz.”  May didn’t seem to be intimidated by Jasmine.

I found the relationships between the
se women very interesting.  I hoped that when I was their age I’d have a friend, or friends, that I’d feel as close to as they were to each other.

It took about half an hour in Friday night traffic to reach Addie’s
place.  I was glad to see the lights were still on at the houses on each side of the darkened home.  I thought I might talk to the neighbor who saw Addie, and then the other neighbor, just in case they’d seen something, too.

Jasmine parked her car at the curb and switched off the ignition.

“Which house does the neighbor who witnessed the argument live in?” I asked.

Jasmine pointed at the
home to the left of Addie’s.

“I’ll be back,” I said.  “Wait here for me.”  I glanced at each woman with what I knew was the same expression I used when I told Sherlock and Watson to
stay
.

They each nodded and I climbed out of the car,
leaving my sweater behind because the weather was still warm, and carefully holding my dress up while I stepped over running water in the gutter onto the sidewalk.  Patting my hair, I walked toward the front step.  I usually wore my hair down, but for tonight I’d brushed it up with curls on top, similar to the famous pinup photo of Betty Grable.

Before I could ring the doorbell, the front door was opened an inch.  I could see an eyeball peering out at me
past a safety chain.  The eye moved up and down, and back up again.

“Who are you?” a
very nasal voice asked.  “It’s a little early for trick or treating, don’t ya think?”

“I wear this dress for work,” I explained
, patting my hair again.  “My name is Pamela Cross, and I’m here about your next door neighbor.  Her friends said you saw her arguing with a man this morning, and I’d like to ask you about that.”

“Ohhh,” the voice said before closing the door and pulling off
the safety chain.  The door opened again and a very short gnome-like woman with a slightly hunched back pulled the door wide, inviting me in.  She had scraggly short white hair, huge dark brown eyes, a bulbous nose that was too large for her face, and she looked around eighty. Her ears, slightly protruding, were also a bit big for her face.  She hugged a housecoat around her middle.

“Thank you for letting me in.  I know it’s late,” I said, glancing at my vintage watch, “but Addie is still missing and we need to find her as soon as we can.”

The television blared with a medical talk show in progress.

“At my age,
dearie, I don’t sleep a lot.”  She sat down in her recliner and looked at her television.  “Phooey!  It’s only eight o’clock.  That’s not late at all.  Besides, they’re going to talk about menopause.  I’m past my prime and not interested.”

I guessed that this woman could tell you what time of day it was by what show was on.  At least, that’s the impression she gave.  She picked up her remote control and pushed the Mute button.  The sudden silence was golden.

“Can you tell me what you saw today, uh, uh…”

“Elsie.  My name is Elsie Montrose.  And yours is Pamela Cross.  Now that we have that straight, there’s not a lot to tell.  I heard a man yelling and peeked out the window.  He was at Addie’s door and they w
ere arguing.  He looked mean, if you ask me, but you didn’t.”

“I
’d like to know what he looked like,” I said.

“First, let me finish my story.  Anyways, they w
ere arguing to beat the band, although I couldn’t hear everything they said.  Addie pretty much told him to get lost – I did at least hear that part – which was pure bravery as far as I’m concerned.  Her face looked kinda scared.  He grabbed the edge of her screen door, like as to pull it open, and that’s when I headed for the front door.  He mighta been mean, but at least he’d have two of us to deal with, ya see.  But I heard footsteps stompin’ down the walkway and looked out another window.  He was climbin’ into a truck – one of those kind with a camper on it – and he started it up to drive away.  That’s all I can tell you.”

“Addie’s friends said you never saw her again today.  Is that right?”

“Sort of.”

“What do you mean?  Did you see her again or not?”

“Well, when this guy was driving away, it looked like the door to the camper was being pulled shut.  I coulda sworn I saw Addie’s face just before it closed, but I thought it was all just my imagination.  But the more I think about it…”  Elsie’s expression was sheepish.  She’d had all day to think about what she’d seen, and now it appeared she was sorry she hadn’t said anything.

“So you think Addie
was in the camper when the man took off?” I asked.

“It kinda looked that way.  She could have ran out of her house and climbed in there
after he went by.  I didn’t really hurry when I heard his footsteps leaving.  I wonder why she would have done that.”

“Okay, tell me what he looked
– ”

I was interrupted by someone knocking loudly on the front door.

Elsie sighed and slowly pulled herself up off the recliner.  As she trudged over to answer the door, it struck me just how slowly she’d probably gone to the front door when Addie was having problems.  My best guess was arthritis in her knees.  It reminded me of watching my grandmother try to walk when her knees hurt.

She opened the door a notch and peeked out.  “You church nuts again?” she said.  “Why aren’t you out looking for your friend?”

“That’s exactly why we’re here,” Jasmine’s voice rang out.  “We want to know what you’re telling Pamela.”

“Well, she can tell you when we’re done talking.  Now go away.”

“Nope.  Our friend is missing and we want to know what you know.”

I could see Jasmine’s foot slide between the door and the door frame.  It was rather interesting to watch these two women spar.

Elsie didn’t say a word for a moment, and then she pulled the door open.  “Okay, I guess that’s fair.  She is your friend, and I like Addie, even if I don’t like you.  I wouldn’t like to see anything happen to her.”

Jasmine, standing tall and straight, walked through the door with Lila and May following.  “Thank you, Elsie.  I know we have our differences, but Addie’s life could be at stake here.”

Elsie made a noise I couldn’t identify, except it sounded like resignation or defeat.  “You people may be nuts, but you’re all good women.  I doubt if you’ve ever done a bad thing in your lives.  But I have, and you should know you’re not gonna convert me tonight.”

“We’re not here to convert you,” May said.

“We’ll do that after we find Addie,” Lila said softly.

“I asked you to wait in the car,” I said, focusing my gaze on Jasmine.  “If you want Chris and me to help you, then please do as we ask in the future.”

“We will,” Jasmine said, very off-handedly, and keeping her eyes on Elsie instead of me.

This time I rolled my eyes and didn’t care if the Church Ladies saw me or not.  They didn’t, but Elsie did and she chuckled.

“Got your hands full, don’t ya, girlie?”

I didn’t respond to that.  “Okay, you were about to tell me what this guy looked like.”

“He was tall, but then everybody looks tall to me.  Um, I would guess he was about a foot taller than you.  He had black and white hair, like this lady’s.”  She pointed at May’s salt and pepper hair.  “He had a droopy mustache; you know the kind; the sides were long and hung down.  He was kinda thin, but he had a belly on him, like some older men get.  Maybe it was a beer belly.”

“So he was an older man?” I asked.

“Not
older
older, but mebbe late fifties or early sixties.  At least, that was my take on him.  And he was madder than a wet hen.  Whatever Addie did musta really been a doozie this time.  I wondered if she tried to preach at him like she does sometimes.  I just ignore her, but some people can’t do that.”

“You’ve given me a good description.  You’re very observant.”

“Not much gets by me in this neighborhood.  I keep an eye on things.”

“I’ll bet you do.  Can you tell me what his truck looked like?”

“Well, it wasn’t an old truck, but it wasn’t new either.  I think it was a Dodge. A neighbor had one. It was black, and it was one of those trucks that has two wheels on each side in the back.  The camper didn’t match the truck.  It was white, and it looked pretty big to me.  There was a ladder on the back, but half of it was gone, like it got broken off.  How’s that?  Will that help you find Addie?”

“It couldn’t hurt,” Jasmine said.  “Elsie, I know you don’t care for us, but we really appreciate your help.  We’d just die if something happened to our friend
, God forbid.”

Elsie reached over and patted Jasmine’s hand.  “I know,
dearie, I know.  I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her either.  But let me remind you of something.  If God takes you to it, He’ll get you through it.  So you’ll find Addie.”

Jasmine’s eyes widened and she looked surprised.  Lila giggled, and May put her hand to her mouth.